The urgency with which the world economy needs to be decarbonized could lead to the emergence of regions with the capacity to produce renewable feedstock such as biomass. The competitiveness of these regions could result from their ability to produce high value‐added chemicals at the lowest cost. The biomass embodied in a chemical product could reduce carbon emissions, leading to net CO2 removal. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that bio‐ethylene could make the Brazilian chemical industry more competitive. This would be achieved by applying the revenues from carbon credits associated with using ethanol and sugarcane bagasse as feedstocks for bio‐ethylene production. Three production routes were compared according to their estimated cost of production in Brazil under a simplified life‐cycle analysis: sugar‐cane‐derived ethanol to ethylene (with and without CO2 capture and storage – BECCS); bio‐methanol to olefin; and conventional steam cracking of naphtha. When associated with the production of long‐lasting materials, the ethanol‐to‐ethylene with BECCS route achieved the lower CO2 break‐even price (US$75/t CO2), followed by ethanol to ethylene without BECCS (US$82/t CO2) and bio‐methanol to ethylene (US$106/t CO2). Our findings highlight the advantage for the Brazilian chemical industry of implementing a national or, even better, a global carbon‐pricing instrument. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

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Plastics are one of the fastest‐growing groups of bulk materials in the world. Yet, a third of plastic waste ends up as terrestrial or marine pollution. As a strategy to lower the carbon footprint of plastics, this study aimed to test the hypothesis that using plastics in long‐term applications would bring an environmental advantage due to the reduction of plastic pollution, the achievement of negative CO2 emissions (NETs) by bio‐based plastics, and demand reduction for emission‐intensive construction materials, such as iron, aluminium, wood, and cement. Cradle‐to‐grave life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and expanded polystyrene (EPS) were performed for four ethylene production routes. For the final disposal, this study assessed incineration; incineration with energy recovery; recycling; and the orientation of plastics for replacing emission‐intensive material construction (long‐term applications). Findings show that using plastics as long‐lifetime materials could lead to NETs, particularly in the cases of bio‐based HDPE, bio‐based PET, and bio‐based EPS. Hence, an opportunity arises, by producing plastics for long‐term applications, to reduce both the carbon footprint and the plastic waste generation that may enter the marine environment. © 2020 Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Resumo Novas formas de operação na distribuição de carga urbana podem levar a melhorias na eficiência das entregas de última milha, além de reduzir seu custo e seus impactos socioambientais. Entretanto, a viabilidade financeira dessas novas formas de operação pode ainda ser questionável por causa dos altos investimentos necessários e do elevado custo de mão de obra, especialmente em países em desenvolvimento. Portanto, este trabalho tem o objetivo de avaliar como essas novas modalidades podem ser adotadas no contexto de países em desenvolvimento, mais especificamente no Brasil, identificando os principais desafios, os benefícios e o impacto dessas práticas para as cidades, as quais, muitas vezes, já sofrem com outros problemas de infraestrutura de transportes.

Integrated assessment models (IAMs) indicate biomass as an essential energy carrier to reduce GHG emissions in the global energy system. However, few IAMs represent the possibility of co-producing final energy carriers and feedstock. This study fills this gap by developing an integrated analysis of energy, land, and materials. This allows us to evaluate if the production of biofuels in a climate-constrained scenario can co-output biomaterials, being also driven by hydrocarbons/carbohydrates liquid streams made available from the transition to electromobility. The analysis was implemented through the incorporation of a materials module in the Brazilian Land Use and Energy System model. The findings show that bio-based petrochemicals account for 33% of the total petrochemical production in a stringent carbon dioxide mitigation scenario, in 2050. Most of this comes as co-products from facilities that produce advanced fuels as the main product. Moreover, from 2040 mobility electrification leads to the repurpose of ethanol for material production, compensating for the fuel market loss. Finally, the emergence of biorefineries to provide bio-based energy and feedstock reduces petroleum refining utilization in 2050, affecting the production of oil derivatives for energy purposes, and, hence, the GHG emissions associated with their production and combustion. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10584-021-03201-1.